Tag Archives: Sacramento

6,000 wait in 10-block line for Sacramento Food Bank free turkeys

Sacramento Bee: More than 6,000 people waited in winding lines up to 10 blocks Monday morning to get a free Thanksgiving turkey and canned food from the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services in OakPark.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Fredonia Phillips, 62, as she surveyed the long line stretching through the neighborhood. She had just picked up a 10-pound bird and two bags of side dishes, including canned vegetables, rice and boxes of mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Kelly Siefkin, a food bank spokesperson, said the food bank was giving away more than 6,300 turkeys donated by individuals, businesses and government agencies.

“We had people donating a turkey or two, we had soccer clubs, and baseball teams come and drop off turkeys, we had families coming after school with their children to donate turkeys,” Siefkin said. “We got 500 turkeys from the county probation department. We would get 30 to 40 turkeys from office parks or hotels. It was fantastic.”

This year’s total of 6,309 turkeys was slightly more than last year’s 6,023, but Wells Fargo donated 2,000 hams for distribution last year, pushing the donations to a total of 8,023, she said.

More than 100 volunteers, some of them from PG&E and AmeriCorps, worked to keep the line moving smoothly along sidewalks and across streets. Volunteers also helped translate, answer questions, bag and hand out food, and carry the groceries to vehicles.

“Everyone has been really appreciative,” Siefkin said of the people waiting in line. The distribution began at 8 a.m. and ran until all the turkeys were gone. If there were still people wanting a turkey, the food bank refers them to other agencies offering food for Thanksgiving.

Sacramento has an unemployment rate of 9.8% and is going to lose 300 jobs in the region due to the closure of Hostess. Over 57% in Sacramento County voted to re-elect Obama. Sadly, they will probably have more people lined up next year for free food as the implementation of Obamacare is going to cause a massive layoff bomb.

U.S. media people, most notably CBS reporter Lara Logan, were attacked by Egyptian mobs in Cairo. Now the violence is here.

A news crew from Sacramento, California’s Fox station KTXL was attacked and beaten on Sunday. The crew included a male reporter and a female videographer. Both were repeatedly struck, with the woman being pulled to the ground by her hair and kicked in the face. They were trying to cover reaction to a recent murder.

Go HERE to see two videos taken by TV stations. Here’s a video I found on YouTube apparently taken by a bystander:

“This is one of the hazards of the business but we didn’t expect what we encountered here today,” said reporter John Lobertini.

Early this morning, a man who friends identify as 27-year-old Chester Jackson was shot and killed in a parking lot outside an IHOP in the 2900 block of Advantage Way. Sacramento Police say it started as a fight inside the restaurant.

Friends and family gathered at the scene Sunday and set up a memorial with candles and balloons.

When FOX40 reporter John Lobertini and photojournalist Rebecca Little approached around 4 p.m. to see if anyone wanted to talk about what happened, they were attacked.

Several people pulled Little to the ground by her hair and kicked her in the face. “When I fell on the ground I was protecting myself, and then she kicked me and I was still kinda paralyzed, and I hear my reporter John say, ‘get up, get up,’” said Little.

Lobertini was also attacked. “I was punched on the side of my face,” said Lobertini, “but it was a situation where I was trying to fight off 6 or 7 or 8 people, I can’t even count them.”